IN
MY OPINION . . .
Giving
Back: Good For The Community And Good For Business
During this season of celebration and family traditions
it’s an appropriate time to remind ourselves that it’s important, not only to
worry about the company profits but also to give back to the local community.
And you don’t have to be Bill Gates and Microsoft Corporation to do it.
Almost any size organization, with or without a
philanthropic budget, can find ways to “do good.” But the following story is the
best recent example I’ve heard of “doing good.” To
read the rest of the article, please click here.
Perception Is Reality
Make
no mistake about it.
When you're in business you need to listen, digest and respond to the
feedback you receive from your clients and the community. Whether you own a
large or small business, for-profit or not-for-profit enterprise, you need to
understand the wants and needs of your target market(s).
When
you think about the services or products you offer, take a step back and look at
your organization through your customers' eyes. Try to understand their
perception of the products or services you offer, what they think of your
company. What is reality is not half as important in marketing as a customer's
perception.
That perception is the customer's reality.
Here's
an example: a local Italian restaurant served pizza and a variety of sandwiches
for many years. A year ago, new owners purchased the restaurant and turned it
into a full-service, gourmet Italian restaurant serving wonderful, full-course
meals and specialty pizzas with gourmet toppings.
The new owner spent some money on local newspaper advertising, a website
highlighting the new menu and take-out service and sent out one direct mailing
announcing the change in ownership and the new menu.
One
out of every two people calling the restaurant and one out of two parties coming
in for dinner were taken aback by the menu and pricing changes. Half of the
people who were caught off guard left without ordering or hung up the phone
without placing a take-out order. Try as they might to promote the new and, by
the way, excellent menu, the new owners continued to lose business.
They
couldn't understand it. They offered excellent fare for a reasonable price and
there really wasn't any competition in the immediate area. The problem was that
the people in the community thought of the restaurant as a local pizza joint
that also served sandwiches. That was the local community's reality – as well
as their perception.
It's
a person's perception that affects his or her behavior. Each person uses past
experience and processes current communication in making decisions and acting
accordingly. Expectations are developed regarding a situation, service or
product. In the example above, the expectations were that the restaurant was
going to serve sandwiches and pizza.
In
order to influence a change in someone's perception, eventually in the hope of
affecting his/her behavior, you first need to have a clear understanding of that
perception. What is it that the person believes to be true? Once you know that,
you can work to influence change in thinking.
The
new restaurant owners may need to revise their menu and add a few sandwich
selections and standard pizza fare.
Once they catch the attention of the former clientele, the restaurant
might begin to offer samples of their expanded menu and gourmet pizza toppings.
The owners could also add a weekly business card drawing for a free meal. There
are many other ideas they could come up with as well. As people realize that the
food is very tasty and well prepared, they may begin to think of the new
establishment as a full service restaurant.
Whether
you're promoting services or products, it doesn't do you much good to continue
to try to swim against the current. It makes much more sense to develop the
understanding that your customers' perception is the reality that you must deal
with and the baseline you must work from. Try it. You'll be glad you did.
Are
We Cooking Our Own Goose?
Lest we all follow that treacherous
cliff-walk of downward revenue spiraling – you know – reducing staff,
freezing budgets or worse yet, pruning them back.
Let’s stop a minute instead and think. In fact, the only thing that
kind of knee-jerk response does is to tie our hands as we attempt to deal with
the slowed US economy.
Is the current economic crisis another case of “following the marketplace?”
At times businesses seem to be playing follow the leader, like herds of
sheep or cattle mirroring the behavior of the rest.
To
read the rest of the article, please click here.
The Intrinsic Value
of Press Releases
Editorial coverage in the media can often
create significantly more value than paid advertising for a company or
organization. If a firm receives editorial coverage that’s positive, people
are much more likely to believe the information than they are when they see or
hear an ad.
According to many research studies, editorial coverage gives an
organization added credibility.
To
read the rest of the article, please click here.
The Internet: Thoughts on the Current Status and Outlook
It
was coined “the Wild, Wild West.” It held the promise of a new era of
commerce, communication and connectability. It spun off a whole host of new
businesses, new specialty fields and “experts” who had become so in a year
or so!
Well,
everyone knows that the Internet has been growing in dog years – 7 for 1 –
so an expert could become one that quickly.
And
where are we now? The bubble has burst. Many dot.coms have gone out of business
already, retrenched, reorganized, down-sized. What happens now?
Does
business go back to the old, traditional ways of doing things? Is the Worldwide
Web and e-commerce a bust? No and no.
To
read the rest of the article, please click here.
For More Information Contact:
Kelly Griffin & Associates, LLC
329 Swift Road, Langhorne, PA 19047
Tel: 215-860-9173
FAX: 215-860-4842
Internet:
information@kellygriffin.com
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